Dayton appoints House DFL staffer Jaime Tincher as legislative liaison

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House DFL staffer Jaime Tincher will move over to the executive branch this summer as the chief liaison between Gov. Mark Dayton‘s office and the Legislature.

Tincher, who currently serves as the director of caucus and legislative services for the House DFL, has accepted a job as Dayton’s deputy chief of staff for policy and legislative affairs. Tincher replaces Michele Kelm-Helgen, who was a critical figure in the passage of a bill to build a new Vikings stadium and has since been appointed chairwoman of the newly-formed stadium authority.

Tincher will start her new job in the governor’s office on August 15.

Prior to her current position in the House caucus, Tincher served as the House DFL staff’ lead on redistricting efforts. During the 2010 election cycle, Tincher worked as coordinated campaign manager for the state DFL Party.  Before joining the DFL, Tincher ran former DFL House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher‘s gubernatorial campaign, which won the DFL endorsement but lost the subsequent primary to Dayton.

“Jaime will join what is already a very strong policy team in our office, with many years of legislative experience to their credit,” Dayton Chief of Staff Tina Smith said in an email. “I have great confidence in them all to lead us through what will be a crucial legislative session.”